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Classical Echoes Between Worlds: Graeco-Roman Antiquity and Japan
International conference
Dates: from March 9 to March 11, 2026
Venues: University of Naples L’Orientale (Naples) & Academy Vivarium novum (Frascati)
The international symposium “Classical Echoes Between Worlds: Graeco-Roman Antiquity and Japan” aims to explore, through a multidisciplinary approach, the dynamics of reception, adaptation, and transformation of Graeco-Roman antiquity within the Japanese cultural context. Over three days of sessions held in Naples (University of Naples L'Orientale) and Frascati (Academy Vivarium Novum), the program brings into dialogue cultural history, anthropology, literature, philosophy, comparative studies, and the visual and performing arts, exploring how Graeco-Roman antiquity has interacted with Japanese media and traditions from the early modern period to the present.
The first day, hosted at the University of Naples L’Orientale, focuses on literary rewritings of classical Greek works, the presence of the Greek canon in Japanese arts, and the ways in which Japanese historiography, museology, and archaeology have reinterpreted the Graeco-Roman world. The second day broadens the perspective to include popular and media cultures—from manga to gaming—as well as philosophical and mythological re-elaborations that connect ancient ethics with Asian modernity. The concluding session, held at the Academy Vivarium Novum, investigates the intersections between missionary Latin production, Jesuit poetry, and intercultural theatrical practices, demonstrating how the transmission of classical texts generates unexpected forms of aesthetic and conceptual hybridization. Taken as a whole, the symposium provides a framework for critical inquiry into the global circulation of Greek and Roman antiquity and its many rebirths in Japan, from past to present.
The symposium is supported by the following institutions and associations, listed in alphabetical order:
Academy Vivarium Novum
ISMEO – The International Association for Mediterranean and Oriental Studies, Contribute MiC ISTCU25-000175
JSPS (Japan Society for the Promotion of Science), KAKENHI, Grant No. 24K00054
University of Naples L'Orientale. Department of Asian, African and Mediterranean Studies
Institutional patronage:
Aistugia (Italian Association for Japanese Studies)
Center for East Asian Studies. University of Naples L’Orientale
The Japan Foundation. The Japan Cultural Institute in Rome
Program
Day 1: Monday, March 9, University of Naples L’Orientale
Palazzo Corigliano, Sala Conferenze (Piazza San Domenico Maggiore 12, Naples)
10.00–10.30 Opening Remarks
Roberto Tottoli (University of Naples L’Orientale, Rector)
Roberta Giunta (Department of Asian, African and Mediterranean Studies, Director)
Adriano Rossi (International Association for Mediterranean and Oriental Studies, President)
Luciana Cardi (Kansai University)
Modern and Contemporary Adaptations of Longus’ Daphnis and Chloe
Chair: Luciana Cardi
10:30–10:50 Giorgio Amitrano (University of Naples L’Orientale)
Echoes of Longus’ Daphnis and Chloe in Mishima Yukio’s Shiosai (The Sound of Waves)
10:50–11:10 Yasuhiro Katsumata (Kyoto University)
Refashioning Longus’ Daphnis and Chloe in Kita Morio’s The Land Where the Gods Have Disappeared
11:10–11:30 Massimo Fusillo (Scuola Normale Superiore, Pisa)
Landscape and Sexuality. On Daphnis and Chloe’s Modern Reception
11:30–11:45 Discussion
Break
Classical Echoes in Japanese Thought: Stoicism, Death, and the Ethics of Modernity
Chair: Gala Follaco
12:15–12:35 Tomohiko Kondō (Keio University)
Stoicism as Past and Future of Japanese Philosophy
12:35–12:55 Noemi Lanna (University of Naples L’Orientale)
The Concept of ‘Glorious Death’ in Oda Makoto: From Ancient Greece to Postwar Japan via Vietnam
12:55–13:10 Discussion
Lunch Break
History, Archaeological Heritage, and Reception of Graeco-Roman Antiquity
Chair: Tomohiko Kondō
15:00–15:20 Chiara Ghidini (University of Naples L’Orientale) and Luca Iori (University of Parma)
Localising Greek Historiography: Thucydides in the Japanese Context
15:20–15:40 Yūko Fukuyama (Waseda University)
Literary Works on Greek and Roman History during the Democratic Movement in the Meiji period (1868-1912)
15:40–16:00 Ichirō Taida (Toyo University)
Persian Wars Described in Japan: From the Late Edo Period until World War II
16:00–16:20 Luca Prosdocimo (University of Naples L’Orientale)
Museums and Collections of Japan. History and Reception of Greek, Etruscan and Roman Antiquities (1868–2023)
16:20–17:00 Discussion
Day 2: Tuesday, March 10, University of Naples L’Orientale
Palazzo Corigliano, Sala Conferenze (Piazza San Domenico Maggiore 12, 80134 Naples)
Echoes of Ancient Greece in Japanese Visual Arts and Literature
Chair: Yūko Fukuyama
10:00–10:20 Rui Nakamura (Tokai University)
The Reception of Greek Sculpture in Japan: Focusing on the Charioteer of Delphi
10:20–10:40 Diego Cucinelli (University of Florence)
Ancient Greece in the Poetics of Murakami Haruki
10:40–11:00 Discussion
Break
Latin and Greek Influences in Manga and Gaming
Chair: Giorgio Amitrano
11:30–11:50 Hironori Satō (Tokyo Institute for Classical Studies [Tōkyō Koten Gakusha])
The Reception of Ancient Rome in the Game Fate/Grand Order
11:50–12:10 Filippo Cervelli (SOAS University of London)
Heaven Can Brook Two Suns? The Many Lives of Alexander the Great in Manga
12:10–12:30 Luciana Cardi (Kansai University)
The Olympic Games through the Lens of Japanese Manga
12:30–13:00 Discussion
Lunch Break
Japanese Interpretations of Graeco-Roman Myths
Chair: Riccardo Palmisciano
14:30–14:50 Kyōko Nakanishi (Tsuda University)
Cultivation, Empathy and ‘Stories of One’s Own’: Reception History of Greco-Roman Mythology in Modern and Contemporary Japan
14:50–15:10 Paolo Villani (University of Catania)
Interpretationes Graecae of Japanese Mythology: Comparatists’ Tribute to Japan’s Geopolitical ‘Departure from Asia’?
15:10–15:30 Discussion and Closing Remarks for the First Part of the Symposium
Day 3: Wednesday, March 11, Academy Vivarium Novum
Sala dell'Omaggio a Venere, Villa Falconieri, Viale Borromini 5, Frascati (Rome)
9:30–10:00 Opening Remarks
Luigi Miraglia (Academy Vivarium Novum, President)
Morning Session
Religious Orders and the Production of Latin Texts on Japan
Chair: Ignacio Armella Chavez
10:00–10:30 Yasmin Haskell (Monash University)
From Tenshō ‘Boyzone’ to Viennese ‘Boys’ Own’: Jesuit Schoolboys Write about Japanese Youth
10:30–11:00 Akihiko Watanabe (Otsuma Women’s University)
Japanese Jesuits and Oriental Studies in Baroque Rome: From Maffei to Konishi and Beyond
Break
11:30–12:00 Cynthia Liu (American Academy in Rome)
Virgil goes East: Epic Patterning in the Paciecid and Ruggeriad
12:00–12:30 Pierre-Alain Caltot (University of Orléans, France)
Figures of Cubosama in Paciedidos libri of Bartholomew Pereira
12:30–13:15 Discussion
Lunch Break
Afternoon Session
Receptions of Latin and Greek Theatre: Performative Intersections
Chair: Akihiko Watanabe
15:00–15.30 Maxime Pierre (Paris Cité University)
Staging Seneca’s Medea in the Form of an Intercultural Nō
15:30–16:00 Miho Takahashi (Kansai University)
A Rereading of the Trachiniae as a Cultural Fusion of East and West
16:00–16:30 Hiroshi Notsu (Shinshu University)
Reception of Ancient Greek Tragedy in Japan: Creating Production Texts
Break
17:00–17:30 Riccardo Palmisciano (University of Naples L’Orientale)
The Origins of Greek Tragedy and the Origins of Nō Theatre. So Far, so Close
17:30–18:00 Laura Massetti (University of Naples L’Orientale)
Memory and Evocation: On the Possibility of Comparing Greek Lyric Poetry and Nō Theatre
18:00–19:00 Discussion and Closing Remarks
Organizing and Scientific Committee (in alphabetical order)
Giorgio Amitrano
Luciana Cardi
Luigi Miraglia
Adriano Rossi
Registration for Non-Speaker Participants
The symposium will be held in a hybrid format. Presentations will be delivered in person, and attendance will be possible both on-site and online. Registration is not required for in-person participation. Online participants can register until March 3, 2026.
To register for the first two days of the symposium at the University of Naples L'Orientale, please complete the following Google form:
https://forms.gle/vTRZ2N5RuYoMcCy18
To register for the third day of the symposium at the Academy Vivarium Novum, please complete the following registration form: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_minOgVilQmyvRhUgYcaPew#/registration
For any questions, contact us: greekromanjapan@gmail.com.
